June 12, 2026

London Highlights We Loved + Where to Stay!

We kicked off our summer with a trip across the pond to England and France with the goal of exploring some new sites and a lot of off-the-beaten-path adventures as well. I’ve shared our European itineraries in the past which have included so many things we’ve done as a family of 6, but this time, it was just Dave and Lola and me! We started in London, and later drove out to the English countryside, and after that, trained to Paris and outer areas of France! It will take me a little time to go through everything and share some details because it was so much! But for now, let’s start with London and a few things we saw I think you might like!

On our first day, we arrived early and had booked a private guide to drive us around to see some of our favorite main sites. We love using a private guide for a few reasons:

-the customization factor, which allows you to choose your own highlights and not waste time on others

-the ease of getting around in a private car, again, saving time with traveling around

-having a private guide who has your full attention

We try to do this kind of tour on our first day to get a good overview of the city, and it’s also nice to ride in a car and do start walks rather than walk for miles with jet lag! We used this tour company and gave our guide a list of some highlights we wanted to do! I also recommend the Hop-on-Hop-off busses as we did this as a family of 6 on our last trip.

Here are some other highlights we loved while in London for 3 days…

Liberty London Department Store

This is a beautiful multi-level store whose merchandise is charming and architectural features are a feast for design-lovers’ eyes! I zoomed in on this quote underneath the clock which I loved. Such detail!

Regent’s Park

We loved this park for a few reasons… first, walking through the gate to enter Queen Mary’s Rose Gardens within the park will take your breath away. It’s simply amazing from late May through July with its countless blooms in many colors.

Because I know this is important info for many of you, here is my affiliate link for THESE sandals that I wore for almost every day of this 12 day trip! So very comfortable, no blisters, and I never had to think about them. A win for sure.

Also in the park is the Open Air Theater, where we were able to get tickets to see Sherlock on one night of our trip! It was such a fun experience and we all loved it! Highly recommend. Click here for more info and tickets!

After the show, we were able to walk back to our hotel, the Melia White House, which was a great stay! It’s in a slightly quieter area near Regent’s Park, but just steps from a tube and bus station to get you where you want to go. The breakfast is definitely a plus with lots of variety and several types of coffees. It’s recently remodeled and very clean. Some rooms have cute colorful paintings, so if you are an aesthetic addict like myself, be sure to request that type of room. Other rooms are decorated more plainly with black and white photos. (hotel photo from their site)

The hotel is also a walkable distance from Marlyebone with plenty of restaurants and shopping.

A few other highlights we loved were Kensington Garden, with a special memorial garden for Diana…

The National Gallery with hundreds of masterpieces including many from Monet!

And the National Portrait Gallery as well…

Another fun stop is the Sy Garden which is free, but advance reservations are recommended. This is a great place to get a bird’s eye view of the city with a public garden on the top of a skyscraper and a great observation deck. Get more info here.